Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex cuneifolius
bitter dock, broad-leaf dock, broad-leaf or broadleaf or bitter dock, patience a feuilles obtuses
Argentine dock, wedge-leaf dock
erect, branched distal to middle or occasionally in distal 2/3, often with few flowering stems from rootstock, 60–120(–150) cm.
and axillary shoots ascending or erect, branching in distal 2/3, (5–)10–30(–40) cm.
ocrea deciduous to partially persistent at maturity;
blade oblong to ovate-oblong, sometimes broadly ovate, 20–40 × 10–15 cm, usually less than 4 times as long as wide, base normally distinctly cordate, occasionally rounded, rarely truncate, margins normally entire, flat or undulate, rarely slightly crisped, apex obtuse or subacute.
blades distinctly obovate or obovate-elliptic, 5–8(–12) × (2–)3–5(–7) cm, widest in distal 1/2, rather fleshy, coriaceous, base cuneate, margins entire to obscurely repand, crisped or occasionally flat, apex obtuse, rounded.
terminal, occupying distal 2/3 of stem, usually lax and interrupted, narrowly or broadly paniculate, branches usually forming angle of 30–45° with 1st-order stem.
terminal and axillary, occupying distal 1/2–2/3 of shoots, usually dense at least in distal part, narrowly to broadly paniculate (but branches in most cases simple or nearly so).
articulated in proximal 1/3 or rarely near middle, filiform, 2.5–8.5(–10) mm, articulation distinctly swollen.
articulated near middle or in proximal 1/3, thickened (especially distally), 3–5 mm, not more than 2–2.5 times as long as inner tepals, articulation distinct, swollen.
10–25 in lax whorls;
inner tepals ovate-triangular, deltoid or, occasionally, lingulate, 3–6 × 2–3.5 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5–2 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins usually distinctly dentate, rarely subentire, apex obtuse to subacute, straight, teeth 2–5, normally at each side of margin, short-subulate or triangular-subulate, straight, 0.5–1.8 mm, or shorter than width of inner tepals;
tubercle usually 1, sometimes 3, then 1 distinctly larger, smooth.
5–20 in whorls;
inner tepals ovate-deltoid or ovate-triangular, 4–5 × (2.5–)3–3.5 mm, base broadly cuneate or truncate, margins entire, apex obtuse or subacute;
tubercles 3, equal or unequal, finely punctate.
brown to reddish brown, 2–2.7 × 1.2–1.7 mm.
glossy brown or dark reddish brown, 2.5–3 × 1.8–2.5 mm.
= 40.
= 40.
Rumex obtusifolius
Rumex cuneifolius
Rumex obtusifolius, a member of subsect. Obtusifolii Rechinger f. (K. H. Rechinger 1937), is a polymorphic species represented in Eurasia by three or four rather distinct races often treated by European authors as subspecies or varieties. These taxa differ mostly in inner tepal dentation and geographic distribution. In North America the morphotypes often intergrade. In Eurasia this species is differentiated into predominantly western subsp. obtusifolius [including R. obtusifolius subsp. agrestis (Fries) Danser], eastern subsp. sylvestris (Wallroth) Rechinger f., intermediate central European subsp. transiens (Simonkai) Rechinger f., and montane subsp. subalpinus (Schur) Simonkai. Only subspp. obtusifolius and sylvestris occur in North America; the former seems to be more common. Subspecies obtusifolius differs from subsp. sylvestris in having larger and more prominently dentate inner tepals with one tubercle, or with three distinctly unequal tubercles; in subsp. sylvestris the teeth are usually less than 0.6 mm, developing only near the base of the inner tepals, and the tubercles often almost subequal.
Rumex obtusifolius may be expected elsewhere in the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Rumex cuneifolius, a representative of the predominantly South American subsection Cuneifolii Rechinger f., is an uncommon alien known from a few localities in North America. It may have become naturalized in the southwestern part of the United States, especially in coastal regions. The species is known definitely from Portland, Oregon, and was reported as “apparently well established in s.c. Oregon” (C. L. Hitchcock et al. 1955–1969, vol. 2).
This species may have been reported from Provo, Utah, by Á. Löve (1986), as Rumex frutescens. However, it is not mentioned by S. L.Welsh et al. (1993).
The name Rumex frutescens Thouars has been misapplied to R. cuneifolius in both Europe and North America. According to K. H. Rechinger (1990), R. frutescens in the narrow sense is an endemic species of the remote South Atlantic islands Tristan de Cuhna and Gough; it differs from R. cuneifolius in having thinner rhizomes, shorter petioles and leaf blades, and smaller inner tepals. Rumex cuneifolius can hybridize with some other species (J. E. Lousley 1953).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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